I've had the drive (GSA-4081B) since March 2004 (when I put together this 64 box), which surprised me a little, cost £70. I've just bought a new NEC drive (ND-4550), one with the lightscribe thingy, whatever the new version of that is called, cant remember.
I didn't buy it for that reason, I got it because its silver, supports DVDRAM and got good media compatability reviews etc etc cost me £23!

LiteON are pretty good, ALL of my LiteON drives from the last 4-5 years are still working fine (12x CDRW etc)

I still think a simple electronics product like this should survive more than 2 years, especially as its only burnt 30-40 DVD's in that time. Oh well, the new drive was only £23 and is faster.